The Game of Life

Although Jiang Feng didn’t know what Xue Shaoheng had been up to outside, he figured that given Xue’s straightforward and no-nonsense way of doing things, he might have even directly stuffed the dish into the hands of a customer.

The pickled vegetable dumplings had long been taken out of the pot and served, and the pure meat wontons had just been finished and placed on the serving window. Jiang Feng wasn’t busy with any orders at the moment, looking around to see where he could lend a hand.

“Sang Ming, have the pure meat wontons been taken away?” Jiang Feng asked. “I just saw Ji Yue sister take them away,” responded Sang Ming, whose position was close to the serving window, allowing him to clearly see the movements there.

Feng, table C7 ordered a large portion of preserved egg and pork congee.” “Got it,” Jiang Feng said, picking up a soup bowl to ladle out the congee. It wasn’t until he had finished ladling out the congee and placed it on the serving window that he realized that table C7 seemed to be Xue Shaoheng’s table.

Meanwhile, in the dining hall, after Xue Shaoheng had given away the entire portions of chopped chili fish head and vegetable stuffed chicken, he realized that he could actually give the dishes directly to others and ended up persuading Xue Hua to offer the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge to some office workers.

After crying a good deal, the office worker had released all the negative emotions pent up inside and felt much better. Although he didn’t know why he had suddenly burst into tears, he vaguely felt it might have something to do with the Li Hongzhang hodgepodge he had just eaten.

When Xue Shaoheng offered him the hodgepodge, he happily accepted but insisted on transferring the money to Xue Hua.

Having successfully expressed his feelings, Duan Xuanan, who viewed Xue Shaoheng as Cupid, realized after seeing the office worker transfer money to Xue Hua that he had freeloaded two dishes and hurriedly transferred money to Xue Hua as well.

Originally, they had ordered a large table of dishes, but with Xue Shaoheng giving them away one by one, the sweet and sour yam had already been finished, and only a plate of pickled vegetable dumplings remained on the table, with the wontons still in Ji Yue’s hands.

Xue Shaoheng and his friends didn’t mind the issue with the dishes in the slightest; they were engrossed in their own language, muttering to each other and having a great time, showing no interest in eating.

Having no other choice, Xue Hua and Huang Yiting’s mother each stuffed a pickled vegetable dumpling into their hands for them to nibble on slowly. Huang Yiting’s mother ate the remaining dumpling.

The two of them had come mainly to look after and accompany these five adult friends; eating was just a secondary concern, so Xue Hua had casually ordered a preserved egg and pork congee after scanning the menu.

Most individuals with Scholar Syndrome aren’t picky about food and tend to eat whatever is given to them. The five adult friends were engaged in a game known only to them while slowly nibbling on the pickled vegetable dumplings in their hands.

“Enjoy your meal with the pure meat wontons,” Ji Yue said, placing the pure meat wontons firmly on the table.

“You ordered wontons too?” Huang Yiting’s mother asked, surprised.

She found it a bit surprising that Taifeng Building, such a high-end restaurant, would sell this kind of ordinary street-side wonton.

“I didn’t order them. These dishes were all ordered by Shaoheng. I don’t know what he was thinking. He orders without eating, and he’s been giving them away, but luckily no one seems to mind. They even seem to like them,” Xue Hua explained, “I wonder if he will eat the wontons he ordered.”

Xue Shaoheng showed by his actions that he would eat the wontons he ordered. Temporarily stepping away from the game with his friends, Xue Shaoheng moved the wontons in front of him and placed the pickled vegetable dumpling back on the plate. He scooped up a wonton and blew on it repeatedly. After the wonton had cooled down, Xue Shaoheng opened his mouth wide and engulfed it in one bite.

With the first wonton down, Xue Shaoheng’s expression turned to one of pain. He was feeling very uncomfortable because the pure meat wontons reminded him of some unhappy memories.

He then scooped up the second wonton.

The third, the fourth.

The more Xue Shaoheng ate, the more uncomfortable he felt; and the more discomfort he felt, the more he ate. Soon, a bowl of wontons was finished.

Xue Hua, who had been busy talking to Huang Yiting’s mother, didn’t pay much attention to Xue Shaoheng’s expression. By the time he noticed something was off, Xue Shaoheng had already finished eating the pure meat wontons.

“Shaoheng, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Does your stomach hurt? If your stomach hurts, just nod your head. Point to where it hurts for sister to see,” Xue Hua said urgently.

Wrapped up in his painful memories, Xue Shaoheng didn’t hear Xue Hua and gave no response.

Xue Hua panicked.

“Could this be acute appendicitis? You should take him to the hospital quickly; some conditions can’t be delayed. Leave this to me; I’ll take them home later,” Huang Yiting’s mother hurriedly said.

“Thanks for that, I’ll give you the money tonight. I need to take Shaoheng to the hospital now,” Xue Hua said, hastily pulling Xue Shaoheng out of Taifeng Building and catching a taxi to the hospital.

Before reaching the hospital, while still in the cab, Xue Shaoheng returned to his normal self, no longer looking pained.

Xue Hua breathed a sigh of relief, keeping a close eye on Xue Shaoheng’s condition, and asked softly, “Shaoheng, do you feel a little better now? Don’t be afraid, sister is taking you to the hospital right now, and we’ll be all right after the checkup.”

Xue Shaoheng shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

“Mom.” Xue Shaoheng said.

Xue Hua was stunned.

She thought that Xue Shaoheng didn’t remember their mother.

Their father had passed away early, and the village’s preference for boys over girls was extremely severe. Her mother had four daughters in a row before finally giving birth to their only son. All daughters except her were given away. Xue Shaoheng had once been her mother’s only hope.

Later, Xue Shaoheng took a fall and hit his head on a rock, suffering a severe blow to the left side of his brain, becoming what everyone at the time considered an imbecile. His mother couldn’t bear such a blow, nor could she stand other people’s disdainful glances and gossip. She took all the family’s money and left without returning, abandoning the two children.

Ever since Xue Shaoheng developed acquired savant syndrome, he never uttered the word “mom” again. Even though the current Xue Shaoheng had a photographic memory, Xue Hua always thought that he didn’t remember their mother because he was so young at the time.

“Shaoheng, are you missing mom? But sister doesn’t know where mom is either.” Xue Hua’s voice choked up.

Xue Shaoheng shook his head. He had so many things he wanted to tell Xue Hua, but he simply couldn’t express them, and he knew that Xue Hua couldn’t understand him at all.

He wanted to tell Xue Hua that the reason he had only ever painted objects and not people all these years was not because he didn’t want to paint people or because he couldn’t, but because he couldn’t paint people.

Ever since he fell at the age of seven, his perception of the world had changed.

It had become dull and colorless, every color appeared monotonous to him. He could only see a few colors in his eyes, devoid of luster, not bright at all, even the sunlight seemed somewhat dim.

Even the faces he looked at were distorted; in his eyes, everyone’s face appeared twisted and deformed. His world was different from the world others saw.

The reason some people coveted Xue Shaoheng’s paintings was that they found the colors in his paintings remarkably unique. But what they didn’t know was that Xue Shaoheng was painting the world as he truly saw it.

But just now, as he ate that bowl of wontons, the memories that came to mind represented the real world.

His mother’s face was a real face, normal, with rich colors and clear contours,

not the twisted and deformed faces he usually saw.

And there was his sister’s face, his mother’s and sister’s clothes, the cabinet, table, chairs, doors, even the dirt on the ground and the bugs on the wall, they all looked normal.

They were rich in color, the sunlight dazzling and bright.

“Mom, sister, clothes, cabinet.” Xue Shaoheng struggled to describe to Xue Hua everything he had just seen.

The taxi stopped, they had arrived at the hospital.

Xue Hua paid the fare, not quite catching the words Xue Shaoheng had just whispered.

Xue Hua took Xue Shaoheng’s hand, leading him out of the taxi and into the hospital.

“Shaoheng, we’re going to have a checkup now. You need to be good and listen to the doctor,” Xue Hua instructed Xue Shaoheng.

Xue Shaoheng nodded.

Xue Shaoheng looked at the people coming and going in the hospital, a world of distortions.

But what he had just recalled was the real world.

That bowl of wontons was truly great.

Taifeng Building is the best restaurant in this world.

Xue Shaoheng thought.

“Ding, a customer’s approval obtained, task progress (3/10).”

Jiang Feng: ???

Xue Shaoheng… what has he done again?

He couldn’t possibly be an angel, could he?